Christmas with the Potters
by ForeverSinging
Summary: What's a typical holiday celebration like for Lily, James, and their friends? The answer to that question is only a click away, so what're you waiting for? Yeah, yeah- I know it's after Christmas; doesn't hurt to give it a shot though, right? :
1. Chapter 1

**The idea popped into my head yesterday and since it's so close to the holidays, I thought, why not give it a shot? Enjoy!**

"Done," Lily Evans sighed heavily as the redhead dropped the shopping bags she was carrying onto the kitchen floor of the flat she shared with her fiancé and plopped herself into the nearest chair. "I've finished _all_ my Christmas shopping _and _finished making the cookies for Alice and Frank's party tomorrow- the muggle way," she added as she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Preparing for Christmas is bloody torture," Lily muttered bitterly.

A loud _crack _was heard and suddenly, James Potter was standing next to her, arms overloaded with presents, his glasses lopsided, and hair as messy as ever. "You think _you_ got it bad?" He scoffed behind the stack of presents he was still holding, "If it's bloody torture for anyone, it's me- at least you're accustomed to doing things without magic; I've lived with it all my life! We could've fit all of this-" he motioned towards the gifts in his hands with his head. "-into your purse with one of those extension charms if you hadn't been all persistent on doing everything the _muggle_ way. I completely_ loathe _the muggle way!" He shook his head, exasperated. "I still can't believe how you managed to live through the first ten years of your life without any magic _at all_,"

Lily got up from the chair, made her way towards her fiancé and began rubbing his back. "It's called 'working', Love," she mumbled, amused. "You might want to give a shot at it some day,"

"So today wasn't it?" James whined.

Lily ignored the complaining and went on. "I'm just glad everything I need to do is done and that the holiday party this year is at Alice and Frank's place. I don't know what I would've done if it was our turn to host this year-"

"Well…" James shifted on his feet uncomfortably, the gifts now on the kitchen counter, the room suddenly feeling quite warm. "About that…"

Lily groaned loudly and placed her head against his back, breathing in his familiar scent, calming down the frustration building up inside her. Eyes closed, she asked, "Alright, what did Alice do now?" The redhead's mind spun as she mentally berated her friend. "I swear- a bloody Puffskein could make less trouble than she does…"

"Funny you should mention that," James laughed uneasily. "Remember that Puffskein she bought from that pet store last month?" he asked, not waiting for any response in particular. "Well, she forgot to feed it yesterday-"

"Typical,"

James forced a laugh. "- and then left it alone in the living room…Well, long story short, their couches and carpet are now completely destroyed and magic's not going to be able to fix it anytime soon,"

"Again; typical,"

Feeling more anxious by the second, he said, "So, uh, guess where the party is now-"

"Alright," Lily sighed, cutting him off, and stood in front of him. "As a result of Alice's empty, clueless mind, I'm guessing the party is going to be at our place this year and the guests are going to arrive starting tomorrow, aren't they?" James looked at her, baffled. She heaved a sighed, "C'mon then; let's get the tree down from the attic and start decorating around here," Lily scrutinized her surroundings for the first time since she had arrived home. "The house does seem quite plain, doesn't it?" she murmured and then looked at James who stood in the middle of the kitchen looking somewhat shocked. "Get a move one then!" she urged.

"But…you…our house…" he spluttered. James shook his head in disbelief, "Lily, you were just getting all irritable- ready to kill, I might say- from all the amount of shopping we just did and you actually _said_ you were oh-so thankful that the party wasn't going to be at our place this year. But now it _is _at our flat; _our _flat; where you're standing on _right now_; the place that belongs to _us_," He motioned wildly at the both of them, breathing heavily from the immense amount of talking.

Lily laughed lightly, sitting down, quite entertained at the sight in front of her. "Why thank you James; though I am, to a certain extent, fairly aware that _this_," she indicated to the kitchen, "belongs to _us,_" The redhead smiled, "I'm also fine with hosting the party at such a late notice; honestly, I'm surprised myself that I haven't already marched over to Alice's house and do more damage to the couches and carpet," Lily admitted, chuckling.

James still wasn't falling for it, though. "So…you're not going to kill me?" he asked nervously but also sounding rather taken back.

Lily got up from the chair and kissed her fiancé's cheek lightly. "No Love, I won't kill you. Frankly though, I wouldn't be worried about me; I'd be more worried about _you_," she said seriously, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"How come?"

"Oh…no reason," Lily responded nonchalantly, restraining the will to grin. "So why don't we get that tree down from the attic?" she said quickly, changing the subject.

"Alright; well let me get my wand-" James started towards the bedroom.

Lily grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back. "No Mr. Potter, do not get your wand; in fact, you won't be needing it for quite a while," she stated strictly.

"But why? If we can't use wands, then we're not going to be able to get the tree down!" he reasoned childishly.

"Remember that time I said you should be more worried about yourself then me?" Lily suddenly asked mischievously.

James looked at his fiancée, clueless, when unexpectedly; his eyes grew wide, realization hitting him fast like a quaffle right in the face. He started, "No…no, no, no," he shook his head frantically but firmly. "We are _not_ doing this-"

Lily looked up at him and grinned. "-the muggle way,"

**Sorry this is kind of short! I plan on this to be about 2-3 chapters long anyway; something short and sweet. Hopefully, the final chapters will be up in the next few days. Also, I do realize the title is 'Christmas with the **_**Potters**_**' yet Lily and James aren't married yet; but hey, they're engaged so that's close right? :] I wanted this to be during a time when they were still young without so much to worry about. **

**Thank you so much for reading and please review, because remember- reviews are always loved! Happy holidays everyone!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Lily looked up at him and grinned. "-the muggle way,"_

"No, no, no, no!" James stated firmly, shaking his head vigorously like a child. "You know I hate it, Lily! Decorating this _whole entire_ house without magic…its rubbish!" Lily still wouldn't budge. "Ask Sirius- he'll tell you all the downs there is to doing everything without magic!" he pleaded.

"May I remind you that there are millions of muggles in the world, living their day-to-day lives without _any _magic whatsoever? And look at how well they cope without it! Only lazy gits like you and Sirius would object to an idea like this. Besides," Lily's eyes turned soft and her voice become gentle. "You wanted to try out 'working' sometime- you said so yourself; why not give it a shot today?"

James looked at her dubiously but groaned in defeat. "Fine; for you," Lily smiled.

"Thank you, Love,"

"except I'm not going to enjoy every second of it," James added definitely, trying to maintain the gloomy look on his face, though a tiny smile was visibly tugging on his lips.

"That's fine with me," Lily smiled, grateful for her fiancé's somewhat sacrifice. "You can enjoy it every _other_ second," and smiling mischievously, she bounded down the hallway towards the attic. James slowly followed, rubbing his temple, a mental letter forming in his head; _Dear Sirius, if I don't make it out of decorating the house without magic alive, I want you to have my Quidditch broom; tell Remus he can have my copy of Hogwarts: a History …_

_

* * *

_

"Alright James, the tree's coming down; are you ready?" Lily called down from the dusty attic. She blew a puff of air, trying to move the strands of hair that had fallen out from her ponytail. James grunted just audible enough for Lily to hear- it seemed that he still wasn't very happy with doing things 'the muggle way'. The redhead rolled her eyes and carefully started lowering the tree down through the opening on the floor. After a while of having it suspended in air, Lily felt the end of the tree be held and lightened her grip on the top. Cautiously, she continued to let down it down, not letting go until James had placed it securely on the ground. Not long after, Lily let herself down the ladder, a box packed with ornaments in hand. When she reached solid ground, Lily put the box down, dusted herself off, and looked up at the tree.

Honestly, it looked quite horrid with the amount of dust the attic had contributed to the poor thing throughout the year.

"So…" she started, still looking at the tree intently. "What do you think?" Lily arched her eyebrows at James who was staring at the tree with a blank expression.

"It looks terrible,"

Lily smiled weakly and then faced the tree in sympathy. "Aw, don't worry; never take James' insults to heart- he doesn't mean it. Now let's get you all fixed up and soon we'll have you looking like the greatest Christmas tree in all of Britain!"

"You talk to it like it can hear you- Merlin Lily, it's a bloody tree!" James exclaimed.

"You hush up," she scolded. "The tree has feelings,"

"And Sirius has a brain," He scoffed. "Let's get the lights up on it; then we'll take a break today and work on the food for tomorrow," Lily nodded in agreement and started towards the box of ornaments and lights below the tree. "And after _all_ of that, I'll have full power of my wand back," James murmured to himself, smiling at the pleasant thought. He looked at Lily struggling to untangle the cords. "But right now…not so much," James muttered and went to help Lily disentangle the darn lights.

* * *

How he ended up surrounded by lights and have ornaments hanging on his ear, James Potter would never know. There he was, on Christmas Eve, preparing last minute for a party the next night, tiny red bulbs being the only thing he could see for miles to no end- well, maybe a little shorter than that. Lily stood in front of him, almost doubling in laughter at the sight of him.

"You look like a human Christmas tree," she commented. "I really think it might work out if we leave the tree be and just stick you in the family room by the couch,"

"Ha-ha; I'm crying from laughter," James said sarcastically.

"No, it might actually work out if we just move the plants to the-"

"Lily,"

"Only kidding," she said sheepishly. "Just wait here and let me get the camera-"

"No,"

"But-"

"No,"

"Fine," Lily pouted. Seeing that her fiancé was still grouchy, she walked over and kissed him on the cheek. "If it makes you feel any better," she said. "I think you're the handsomest Christmas tree the world's ever seen," Lily complimented cheerfully.

James' gloomy face relaxed as a smile slowly spread across his face. "Well in that case, I'll take you on that picture you were so excited about; just not now. We still have to finish the tree," He motioned toward it, eyebrows raised. "and turn it into the 'greatest Christmas tree in all of Britain' like you promised it," he quoted.

Lily grabbed one end of the light cord off from the ground and motioned a circle with one of her hands. "Alright; well start spinning if you want the lights off you so bad, Mr. Christmas Tree," she directed. Soon enough, with a dizzy head, James Potter was free from the harsh grasp of the Christmas lights.

Hours past and the couple worked robustly on decorating the tree, making it the best they could with what they had. Popcorn was strung and woven around the tree along with the lights. Ornaments where hung on almost every available branch- an array of Quidditch ornaments; brooms, quaffles, snitches (etc.), were displayed on it in different places; polar animals with tiny Santa caps were also part of the tree, along with plastic cookies, reindeers, and small sleighs. As they finished up, Lily and James stood back and admired their work. Both had giant smiles on their faces as they realized what they had done. Suddenly, in the midst of admiration to the tree, Lily gasped.

"We forgot something!" she exclaimed as if it was the most crucial thing to have on a tree, and scrambled through the box of remaining decorations. _What could we've possibly forgotten? _James thought. _We've fit at least one of everything we __**owned**__ onto that tree-_

"Got it!" Lily climbed up the step-ladder against the tree, a tiny blue wizard cap in hand. She placed it on the top of the tree making it look like the tree itself was a wizard.

Stepping back to look at it, she sighed, content. James walked over and put an arm around her, squeezing her shoulders. Lily looked up and asked, "Doing this 'the muggle way' wasn't so bad, right?"

James ran his hand through his already messy hair. "Well…I mean, it's not as bad as I thought it would be but still-"

Lily chuckled and leaned against his chest, still gazing admiringly at the now festive tree. "It's beautiful," she breathed.

"But I'm handsomest Christmas tree of all," James replied full of arrogance. Lily looked up, grinned, and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Yes you are,"

**This might end up being 4 chapters; it all depends on whether I can fit everything I want to into the next chapter. For those of you that celebrate Christmas- Merry Christmas! May you be full of health and happy with joy. Thank you so much for reading! Make my Christmas and review please? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Ack! So sorry for the late update! I was trying to finish this up a few days after Christmas but then my computer broke down…you get the idea. Forgive me please? Thanks for reading!**

The next morning, Lily Evans woke up to the bright sunlight streaming through the small crack between the curtains, signaling 9:00 AM. She sat up and groaned in exhaustion, rubbing her eyes open, only to be welcomed by the brightness of the overwhelming light.

_James' probably up already…darn you bloody curtains_, and with that thought, Lily fell back onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head. With her wand on the dresser beside her, so (what Lily called) '_out of reach'_, she didn't bother to wave the curtains shut with it and attempted to go back to sleep; though her plan failed drastically. Under the covers, the air was muggy and hard to breathe in which resulted as Lily sticking her head out from under. Finally, after countless twists and turns, the redhead felt the drowsiness overcome her. As she was about just about to slip into unconsciousness, the sudden surprise of the smell of homemade pancakes and syrup flowed into the room, awakening her senses.

Lily muttered under her threw the covers off in frustration and put on her bath-robe over her pajamas lazily, wondering who in the house, besides her, knew how to make pancakes and deliberating on whether she would curse that bloke into oblivion for waking her up this early, or hug the person for making her favorite breakfast. Lily came down the stairs slowly, still tired from the lack of getting twelve hours of sleep (this time, she'd only gotten eleven and a half) and entered the kitchen with James in front of the stove doing what seemed to be making pancakes.

He turned around from the stove, his hair still messy, and his lopsided glasses somewhat foggy from the heat. "Morning, Sleepy-head," James greeted cheerfully.

"Mornin'" Lily mumbled softly, looking astonished at the sight of _her _fiancé, who almost _never _did anything without magic, making breakfast with his wand nowhere in sight. She grabbed a chair and seated herself in it cautiously, still eyeing the spatula he held in his hand utter awe.

As James diminished the fire on the stove, put the pancakes onto a plate, and placed it onto the kitchen table with a bottle of maple syrup, Lily stated, "I didn't know you could cook," She took a bite from the first pancake, contemplating the softness of the dough, she added, "_-this well,"_ Lily quickly swallowed and continued, "Merlin, I didn't know you could cook _at all _but this is fantastic!".

"You think so?" James asked curiously, sitting on the arm of Lily's chair, trying some from the plate as well, eating slowly. A supercilious smile started expanding on his face, "Well, you know me; always the best of everything-"

"Did I say this was good?" Lily interrupted. "I meant that this tastes _horrible_," she teased.

"I believe the term was _fantastic,_" he quoted smugly.

"Oh who cares what term I used," she said, secretly irritated that James was winning the argument. "The real question is; where did you learn all of _this_?" she waved frantically at the plate in front of them.

James laughed. "Well, Sirius would always get really hungry when he came to visit and all of you are at work or who-knows-where. With all you gone and no one making him anything to eat, he had almost no access what-so-ever to anything edible, being the lazy one he was," he explained.

"But there are always leftovers in the refrigerator _and _I bought all those snacks; and they were _healthy decent _snacks!" Lily started exasperated.

"About that," James said. "Ever wonder _why _the leftovers are always gone when you come home from work?"

Lily groaned. "And he's _still _hungry after all that? I swear, I don't think Black comes to visit us because he misses us; it's because he's missing _the food_," she reasoned. "So you _cook _for him?" Lily asked, finding this all hard to believe; but then again, it was Sirius Black- what did you expect?

"Kind of," Lily stared at him with arched eyebrows. "What else was I suppose to do? You don't know what it's like to be with a hungry Sirius! It's creepy! Those were all scary times I tell you," he informed. Lily laughed at the thought of a scary hungry Sirius and with that, James went on. "Well, I was digging through some old boxes up in the attic one day and came across some of your old muggle cookbooks and cooking magazines. You know, _The Amateur Gourmet_, all that lot? So I started teaching myself all these recipes from the books and found it to be surprisingly enjoyable," he admitted sheepishly; Lily tried to hide a smile. "And now, whenever Sirius gets all whiney, I whip up some complicated looking sandwich and _voilá_! The recipe for a happy Sirius," James stated proudly.

Lily just smiled at the all-too-familiar arrogance. "Honestly, I'm impressed; never would I have thought that _James Potter_; the boy that pulled pranks for fun and found hanging people upside down with a wand were amusing, learned to _cook._ Bravo, bravo," she joked. "It seems to come in handy pretty often too," Lily added.

Her fiancé nodded with a knowing smile on his face. "And it's about to come in handy again,"

"How so?"

"Tonight's the Christmas Party, remember?" Lily's eyes widened in sudden realization. "Its time…" With a solemn expression, James concluded dramatically-

"…_to bake some cookies,"_

_

* * *

_

"I can't get the shape right, James!" Lily complained for the billionth time. "The gingerbread man's head is lopsided and its arms are out of proportion!" She looked jealously at James as he made perfect gingerbread men one after another and scowled.

"Lily," he began to reason. "When the people eat the cookies, no one's going to care if one arm isn't proportional to the other- it all ends up in their stomach anyway," but James reached over to help, evening out the arms and pushing the head upright.

"I can't do this; we've been at it for hours," Lily sighed dejectedly as James put the finished to-be cookies into the oven. The redhead sat herself in a chair, exasperated and tired from all the work. "Too many pastries," she muttered.

"Love, you made three…_in total_,"

"_Four!_" Lily snapped.

"Alright, alright," James held up his hands in defeat. "You made four- but I'm proud of every effort you put into those…four," he said encouragingly. Lily grunted in response; James glanced at her and said loudly (intentionally), "But to think; me, James Potter, is better at something than _Lily Evans,_ the brightest witch in the grade, smart-aleck_ Lily_,"

"Shut it, Potter," she snapped, using the too-familiar name she had called him for a while back when they were in school.

James grinned and went on, "Oh I don't know; me being James and all, cooking and baking being my talent- _not Lily's_," purposely emphasizing the last two words.

He turned around to glance at the clock when a cloud of white dust veiled his entire body, covering himself in white powder. Coughing, he turned around to find Lily standing innocently by the oven, positioned too close for comfort by the bag of flour, one hand was covered in white.

"Something wrong?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh nothing," James said, pretending to be oblivious to the flour clinging onto his clothes. "You know, funny thing just happened; I have this sudden urge to hug my fiancée," He opened his arms wide, unveiling more flour on his clothing, and walked towards Lily.

"No," she said, shaking her head furiously. "James Potter, get away from me," she backed towards the kitchen door.

"Aw Lily, all I want is a hug; is that so bad?" he asked harmlessly.

"With all that flour on you, it is,"

"What flour?" and suddenly, James lunged forward to envelope Lily in what seemed to be an innocent hug. Lily shrieked as strong arms got a hold on her and squeezed her close to James' chest. Not soon after, when he let go, she too, was covered in white.

"Did I get you dirty?" he asked, still looking as if he were clueless. Lily laughed, dusting off the powder.

"Typical, typical James," she said; he smiled confidently. "So charming, handsome, and not to mention, _stupid,"_

Not even faltering on his proud expression at the last comment, James sing-songed, "But that's why you love me!"

Lily rolled her eyes, smiling at the truth. A distant _Ding!_ sounded in the background.

"Cookies are done!"

* * *

"They all look so good," Lily marveled at the finished cookies. How did they look so perfect?

"Yeah, they do," James agreed. "Well, all of them, except the ones you made," he teased.

Lily slapped him in the arm but said nothing. Both each took a dessert, Lily taking one of the four she made, James taking one of the countless numbers of cookies he made. They took a bite and chewed slowly. James swallowed and informed, smiling to himself, "I'm skilled- don't you think?" he asked Lily.

The redhead chewed slowly as if she was contemplating on the flavor of the sweet.

"Well…?" James asked curiously.

Lily finally swallowed and looked up at James, grinning mischievously.

"_Mine are ultimately better," _

**Gah- again, I'm really really really really **_**really **_**sorry for updating so late- the computer with all these files broke down and it wasn't until a long while later that it got all fixed again. Forgive me? I didn't have much time to look this over so I also apologize if there are errors! Thanks so much for reading! I've been kind of stressed out lately so make my day and review please?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey you guys! Before I say anything- I want to mention that this is going to be a somewhat insanely long A/N because I'm not going to put one at the end of the chapter like I use to. **

**Not very happy with the number of reviews I received from the last chapter. Like I said, I apologize for the late update for that last chapter. **

**But according to traffic;**

**91 people came across **_**Christmas with the Potters**_** and read it,**

**62 of them read chapter 3,**

**And…DRUMROLL!**

_**0 reviewed**_

**Kind of unfair when you look at the numbers, don't you think? Don't get me wrong or anything; I already **_**really**_** appreciate the fact that you're taking the time to read my long, boring A/N, and this story, and I **_**really**_** hope this doesn't give you a bad impression of me, but I truly want to know how I'm doing as a writer and get feedback.**

**Honestly, I don't mind what you put in them; you can hate it (just no yelling please?), love it, have some thoughts about it- all of that's fine! I really don't mind at all and I'd love to know what you guys think about it! **

**Things I want to say at the end of the chapter, but put at the beginning of it (why? Because I'm me XD)-**

**-Thanks to all that faved, subscribed, read, and reviewed this story! I can't thank you guys enough! Love you all!**

**-Some of you that also read my other Lily/James fanfic; **_**Forever and Always**_**, might eventually wonder why Kat (my OC from **_**Forever and Always; **_**speaking of **_**Forever and Always**_**- if you haven't yet, feel free to check it out!) wasn't mentioned in this; I just wanted to make this easier for those who haven't read it- don't want any confused readers right?**

**-Its funny- even though this story's only four chapters long, I've grown quite attached to it and I'm a little bit sad it's going to be over after this chapter. Make it a truly happy ending for this story and review please? :]**

**Here's a quick update, and this **_**is **_**the last chapter of **_**Christmas with the Potters, **_**so maybe now, you guys will forgive me? :] Again- thank you everyone for everything! (And I apologize for this really long A/N!)**

"Are you ready yet?" James called up the stairs to where Lily was supposed to be getting ready for the party. "You've been up there for ages!" he exclaimed, wondering what in the world she could possibly be doing. Lily was never one who liked to dress up or fretted about how she looked and the amount of time she was taking now was honestly scaring him.

James himself had cleaned up fairly well in a medium shaded blue dress shirt and black dress pants. He had tried to comb his hair down and he had…well, _slight _success with that; his jet-black hair still sticking up in some places. As he ran his hand through his hair, a well known habit of James, anxious at what could possibly take Lily so long and that the guests would arrive in mere minutes, he heard slight taps coming from behind and turned around to find Lily coming down the stairs, his jaw dropping in awe.

Lily had a casual, yet stunning (according to James) outfit- with a white embroidery lace blouse, both dark green skinny jeans and flats that matched her eyes, her red hair in light curls, and small, cute Christmas tree earrings. She blushed under her fiancé's gaze. "What do you think?" Lily asked timidly.

"…Beautiful…" James mumbled, still in awe how he'd gotten so lucky to be with Lily. Falling out of his trance, he went up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "Now, enough about you," he teased. "How do I look?"

"Eh…" Lily waved one hand as if to say 'so-so' and James looked at her in horror. "Kidding," she smiled. "You cleaned up pretty well yourself," Lily said, placing a light kiss on his cheek.

A soft buzz suddenly sounded and James turned to look at the door. "Guests are here," he announced. The buzzing continued on- every two seconds or so, another one would sound, followed by another, as someone outside repeatedly pushed the doorbell.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he exclaimed at the door. Opening it, James muttered, "Merlin, what happened to patience around here-"

"PRONGSIE!" a handsome boy exclaimed as he tackled James into a big hug. Sirius Black hugged his best friend tightly as if his life had depended on it causing James to lean against a table and quickly grab onto a vase that had been slipping off the edge. Eventually, Sirius released his friend, stating, "Blimey, I haven't seen you guys in ages!" He turned to look at Lily. "Aw, Evans, give your old man a hug," he said, opening his arms wide, a childish grin on his face.

Lily laughed and went up to him and embraced him gently. "Great to see you too, Sirius," When she let go, she asked mischievously, "Now tell me, Black; did you come here to visit _us_ or to give the refrigerator your weekly visits?" James snickered from behind.

Sirius looked at her with a dumbfounded expression as if Lily should already know the answer to that question. "Pft, both of course!" he exclaimed.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Good, good…" she mumbled. "The fridge has been complaining lately about you not coming to visit it…" Another buzz was heard from behind as more guests started to arrive.

"PEOPLE ARE HERE!" Sirius announced to the world, so it seemed, and rushed to the door and flung it wide open.

James shook his head slowly. "Sirius," he muttered quietly to himself. "Don't scare away the company! Honestly, how much firewhisky did you have before coming…?"

"Shut it Prongs," Sirius said playfully. "They all know how I am. Blimey Prongs, why would you think I'd scare away the company? You could hire me to be your doorman if you wanted-"

"-which will, of course,_ never_ happen," Lily confirmed.

Alice and Frank Longbottom stood in front of the entrance with flustered expression on both faces from the manic Sirius. Lily met the eyes of her best friend at the door, smiled weakly, and shrugged.

"Alice," Sirius said warmly to the brunette, acting like a servant at a mansion. "Come in; come in, both of you. Let me take your coat there, young lady-" He reached for Alice's jacket, only to be slapped in the face by her coat.

"Ow!"

"Watch it, Black," Alice started, smiling innocently. "Don't you even _try_ to take my coat away from me,"

"Still no reason to slap me! Treat others the way you want to be treated, Longbottom!" he reasoned.

"No reason to in this case," she said. "I would've never taken _your _coat from _you_ at a party, so there's no reason to consider how I would want to be treated by you in that kind of situation; it never would have happened!" Sirius stared at Alice, looking as dense as ever. "Catching on, Black?" she added nonchalantly.

"Women…" he muttered to himself, talking to no one in particular. "So…m'boys, how are you guys?" Sirius directed the question towards James and Frank, quickly changing the subject that seemed to put an invisible, virtual "Guys Only" sign around them. Alice rolled her eyes, their conversation clearly over, and walked over to Lily, coat in hand.

"Sorry about that," Lily apologized sheepishly, hugging her best friend and taking her coat to hang in the closet. "Honestly, when I imagined the whole thing, I pictured James and me greeting the guests…not a _guest_ greeting the _other_ guests…"

Alice laughed, "Well, when you have Sirius Black in a room with people, things usually take an unusual turn," She motioned towards the three men talking with each other. "Exhibit A,"

Lily grinned. "So, tell me," she started. "How's your living room doing?"

Alice groaned at the thought of her destroyed couches back home. "Aw Lils, don't even go there; I had an automatic Puffskein feeder installed so _that _wouldn't happen again,"

The redhead chuckled. "I'm glad you found a solution to your…animal feeding problem-" Lily was cut off from a sudden gleeful shout.

"MOONY! WORMY!" someone shouted joyfully; not soon after, a small 'oof,' and squeak was heard. Lily shook her head slowly.

"Bloody-" she muttered. "Let me guess; Remus and Peter are here, aren't they?"

Alice nodded, holding back a small smile. "And once again, your _guest_ greeted the…_other_ guests,"

"It's not like I have any control over it," she sighed. "Let's go check to see if Remus and Peter are still…alive; and while we're at it, I'll greet them for a change," A sarcastic tone was clear in her voice as she walked over to check up on her two friends.

Remus' hair was almost as messy as James' with some strands sticking up here and there. Peter, now a more of a grown man then before, only _slightly_ cowered behind Lupin. Lily walked up behind the overexcited Sirius and tilted herself at an angle to where she could actually be seen. "Sorry about that," she apologized for what seemed to her to be the millionth time. "Still working on training our, uh, _doorman_,"

Sirius gasped like a child and turned around to face Lily. "Merlin- so you're actually considering on hiring me!"

She glared at Sirius. "Keep talking and all consideration will be _done_,"

"Well…um, isn't great that everyone's here _safe and sound_?" James said to no one specific; leave it to James Potter to turn something into a somewhat awkward conversation (**A/N-** **Don't get me wrong; I still love him endlessly XP)**.

Everyone stared at him peculiarly, waiting for him to go on. "Uh…food anyone?" he asked, self-conscious. The statement ended all discomfort as all the visitors hurried into the kitchen, with Lily and James following slowly behind, the former giving the latter's hand a reassuring squeeze.

* * *

Everybody enjoyed themselves late into the night, with the delicious and sufficient amount of food that was served, holiday music coming out from a muggle radio, and the amount of time given to catch up with each other on what happened in the last month of so.

"How are you enjoying yourself, Ms. Evans?" James asked her softly as he twirled her around, them being the only couple dancing to the light music coming from the radio, not that anyone minded.

Lily laughed quietly. "I feel like we're seventeen again, back at Hogwarts," James nodded in agreement. "How I miss those days…" she trailed off, reminiscing the times back at the castle.

"We all do," he said sadly, stating the truth. "And with all this Order stuff coming up so soon, it feels like it's been so long since then, yet it's only been what- a year?" James said.

"Well, we can enjoy the time we have now, hm?" Lily said softly, causing James to smile.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked, looking solemn but teasing.

"Only…everyday or so," she replied back, smirking.

A loud _crack _was heard from the radio and everyone turned to look at it as an announcer suddenly announced, "Ladies and gentlemen of Britain, it is now 12 AM, December 25th; Merry Christmas to you all!"

Lily tipped her head back and laughed lightly when something hanging from the ceiling caught her eyes. "Look," she whispered. "Mistletoe,"

James looked up at the small green plant and smiled. He pulled Lily closer to him and murmured, "Merry Christmas, Lily Evans," planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

Lily looked up at her fiancé and smiled, wondering why all those years, she'd been ignorant of him, careless about his feelings, simply mean to his face, and nevertheless, he'd still forgiven her, cared for her, _accepted_ her. How she'd gotten so lucky, Lily Evans would never know.

"Merry Christmas to you too; _James Potter- the man I love,"_


End file.
